


There May Be Something There That Wasn't There Before

by tacomuerte



Series: Femslash February 2017 - Chlonette Edition [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, Femslash February 2017, Marinette may be a bit overprotective..., Redemption, awkward confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 07:13:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9590624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacomuerte/pseuds/tacomuerte
Summary: Chloé’s fundraiser for animal shelters is on the verge of collapse?Marinette isn’t about to allow that to happen, so it’s Paris’ resident polka-dotted superhero to the rescue!* * *Title from "Something There" on theBeauty and the Beastsoundtrack.Femslash February 2017 Day 3: Rescue





	

The Chloé Bourgeois Redemption Project had hit a snag.

Three months ago, Marinette had been sketching in her room when her maman called her to come down to the bakery because she had a visitor. Wondering why Alya hadn’t simply come upstairs to find Marinette herself, she made her way to the bakery only to find it wasn’t Alya at all. In fact, her visitor was on the opposite end of the spectrum from her best friend.

Chloé sat at a table with an untouched eclair in front of her looking despondent. She had been crying. That much was obvious. She also looked as if she hadn’t slept well or possibly at all. She was a far cry from the usual brash heiress that tormented Marinette.

She exchanged a look with her maman who had of course seen the papers and was well aware of what was tormenting the visitor to their bakery. As her maman put up the closed sign and left to give the girls privacy, Marinette approached, reminding herself that Chloé had been facing a horrible situation and despite their years of animosity, she likely needed support. Just a few days ago, Mayor Bourgeois had a scare in the form of a heart attack and was currently recuperating according to the papers. Chloé had been called out of class when it happened, and she hadn’t returned to school for almost a week. Even then, she seemed a shell of her former self.

As Marinette came to stand by Chloé’s table, the blonde looked up and said, “Marinette, you’re the only one who can save me.”

And so Marinette was now trying to do just that. 

When Mayor Bourgeois had woken up in the hospital, Chloé was by his side. Many things could be said about the younger Bourgeois, but she loved her papa. She had asked him what she could do for him, and his response was that he only wanted her to be happy.

That was when Chloé had realized she wasn’t happy. She wasn’t happy at all. The girl had no friends any longer. Sabrina had tired of always trying to please her and had quite publicly broken with her last summer. Even Adrien had finally told her in front of the entire class that her antics had gone too far for too long.

Chloé was alone, and she was miserable although she tried to hide it behind a veneer of disdain for everyone around her.

But now, her papa had said all that mattered to him was her happiness, and when she looked in the mirror, she was forced to admit that she did not like the person looking back.

This was how she ended up in Marinette’s home. She told the brunette everything, holding nothing back. She said Marinette was the only person who could save her from herself because Marinette was the only person who had always stood up to her. Chloé said that she was the only one who could be trusted to always tell her the truth. She had offered to say anything and do anything if Marinette would help her be a better person—a person who, when she looked in the mirror, smiled because she liked what she saw. 

Chloé Bourgeois wanted to give her papa the gift of a daughter he could be proud of.

Marinette would have been the worst kind of liar if she said that Chloé hadn’t gotten to her. She had never seen the blonde so honest, so plaintive and earnest. 

She agreed to help Chloé as long as Chloé tried in good faith.

That was the genesis of the Chloé Bourgeois Redemption Project.

All in all, it had gone well so far by Marinette’s assessment. Chloé was trying hard, and she was open about the fact that she was trying without pretending she had never wronged anyone, which went a long way in convincing most of her classmates and other people that encountered her. Some had eagerly taken the opportunity to start over, notably Adrien, although Rose, Juleka and a few others were just as positive. Sabrina had offered tentative friendship again although that was understandably less certain, at least for now. Even those who weren’t quite willing to buy into Chloé’s reformation were content to keep a wary distance without antagonizing Chloé.

The only issue until today had been Chloé’s lack of trust in herself. She had become withdrawn and unsure, and more and more Marinette found herself worrying about the girl. After a few days of this, even Alya had said that it just wasn’t right and assigned herself the role of rebuilding the blonde’s confidence.

The two had bonded gushing over Ladybug. Marinette was on the one hand happy that the two very different girls had discovered common ground and a burgeoning friendship, but on the other hand she really hated sitting there listening to the two wax poetic about her superhero persona. It felt… voyeuristic. Still, it was better than watching a girl who was making every effort to do better sit staring at everyone else talking and laughing before making excuses and isolating herself.

That was how the duo of Marinette and Alya had become a very unlikely trio. After less time than Marinette would have thought, she found she much preferred this new dynamic. It wasn’t as if Alya and Marinette had any issues, but even the best of friends could sometimes use another person to go out and do things or to just hang out with. Chloé helped Alya with the Ladyblog, and Marinette found the blonde an invaluable resource when it came to discussing fashion. The three had settled into a nice rhythm and things were looking up for Chloé at school.

Today, though, Marinette realized there was a flaw in her plan. While she was very confident when moving in circles familiar to her, such as the school’s noisy hallways and the busy streets of Paris, she had no idea how to navigate the treacherous waters of high society and politics. If they made it through this event with Chloé’s confidence intact, it would be a miracle worthy of Ladybug.

It had all started with what seemed like a very good idea by Alya. She had been volunteering at an animal shelter, and they were more than a bit short of funds. When she brought it up, Chloé had volunteered to donate any time and money the shelter might need, but Alya had enthusiastically brought up the idea of a fundraiser. Chloé could organize an event to raise funds for all the shelters in Paris, and she and Marinette would be there to support her every step of the way.

Planning had went well, and several friends from school pitched in as volunteers. Chloé thought of everything. She had been planning and organizing events for her papa for years, and it showed. No detail had been overlooked.

Except one.

Chloé’s reign of terror had not been exclusive to school and random citizens of Paris. Not even the cream of Paris’ crop had been immune to Chloé’s razor-sharp tongue and bullying tactics. It turned out that the high-profile fundraiser Chloé Bourgeois was pinning her hopes on being successful was the perfect opportunity for a lot of rich snobs to exact several pounds of flesh.

The problem wasn’t that Chloé’s event was being shunned. The venue was packed actually. The lure of exquisite food and fine wine drew the upper crust in like flies, but flowing wine wasn’t creating a flow of money. The attendees seemed to be taking a special kind of pleasure in eating and drinking and having to think oh so carefully about pledging their money to help homeless animals.

To make matters worse, Mayor Bourgeois was in attendance. He had been ecstatic with how well Chloé had been doing with her classmates, and had been unabashedly promoting the event at every opportunity. Marinette had to give him credit for the brave face he was putting on in the face of disaster.

The only braver face at the event belonged to his daughter, but Marinette could tell she was fragile and only holding on because Alya was devoting every scrap of time she wasn’t filming for social media to being there for Chloé.

Usually, Marinette was the one to provide emotional support for Chloé, and Alya liked to tease her mercilessly that she never gave anyone else a chance to help Chloé before swooping in. That was why Alya had sought her out when everything started going wrong tonight. She said she was surprised that Marinette wasn’t glued to Chloé’s side, but after taking one look at Marinette’s face, she had said since Marinette looked ready to punch someone, she would take Chloé Duty until further notice.

It was just that it was so unfair! Chloé was trying, and even if these snooty jerks wanted to teach her a lesson, tanking a good cause for their petty vengeance was inexcusable. Who wouldn’t want to punch someone? 

Suddenly, Marinette found she had valuable insight as to why Chloé had been the person she had been before she decided to turn her life around. Being around these people was poisonous.

So yeah, she wanted to punch someone. Hard.

A hand on her shoulder startled her out of her increasingly dark thoughts.

“Hey, are you okay?” Chloé asked.

Marinette was ashamed that Chloé had noticed how upset she was and that she was the one having to provide comfort. It was just another unfair thing stacked on top of an unfair day.

“I’m fine,” Marinette muttered. 

Chloé tilted her head and smiled sadly. “No, you aren’t. I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

Marinette gave her a cross look. “You didn’t drag me into anything, Chloé.”

The blonde squeezed her shoulder and looked over to the monitor showing the dismal results of the fundraiser. “I just wish that the animals didn’t have to suffer for what I deserve.”

“You don’t deserve this!” Marinette practically hissed. She balled her fists to keep them from shaking with rage. 

Chloé looked shocked at the vehemence in Marinette’s voice, but before she could respond, Alya stepped in.

“Hey, Chlo,” Alya interrupted, grimacing. “Marie’s people just called. Something **unexpected** came up and she has to send her regrets.”

Marie was an up-and-coming singer that Chloé had booked for the fundraiser. Either she was on the list of people out to prove a point when it came to Chloé Bourgeois or her people had gotten wind of what was going on. Either way, Marinette should have known better than to trust someone who didn’t even have a last name.

“Okay,” Chloé said, taking a deep breath. “Stall for a couple of minutes, Alya, and I’ll… I’ll see if I can come up with anything.”

Alya nodded sharply and set off with a determined look.

Chloé sighed and whispered, “I just wish Papa didn’t have to watch this.”

Marinette had an idea. It wasn’t one she could admit out loud, but it might work. “Go to him, Chloé,” she said. “I’m going to see what I can do to help.”

Chloé looked unconvinced, but smiled anyway. “I need to work on… something. Maybe if I get up on stage and humiliate myself, they’ll donate some money.”

The blonde strode off to do damage control with Alya, and Marinette put her plan into action. It was easy enough to slip out and transform into Ladybug. 

Within moments, she had swung into the room and landed on the stage beside Chloé who was in the middle of explaining that Marie had been unfortunately delayed.

“Ladybug!” Chloé exclaimed, holding her hand over the microphone so their conversation could be private. “What are you doing here?”

“Helping out a very good cause,” Marinette said, feeling useful for the first time today. Already, she could hear a clamor in the room as people called over volunteers to make pledges. If this wasn’t as good a cause as she had said, Marinette would have been happy to stuff those checks down their throats.

Instead, she held out her hand towards the microphone and asked, “May I?”

Chloé nodded and said, “Of course! I’ll let you have the stage. The less I’m in everyone’s faces, the better it is for the donations.” She then handed over the mic and began to back away, but Ladybug gently grabbed her by the elbow and held her in place.

“Hello, everyone!” she called out. “Chloé wanted to surprise all of you by having me appear later, but with Marie being stuck in traffic, I thought why not get the show on the road, especially considering how generous all of you have been!”

Quite a few in the audience blanched at Marinette’s words and frantically waved down volunteers. The monitors now showed a steady increase in donations. Marinette decided if Marie did show up now, she would throw her in the Seine.

“When my good friend, Chloé, contacted me and asked if I would participate,” she said. “I hesitated. I’ll be honest. I was worried that it wouldn’t be proper for me to advocate for a charity, no matter how good the cause, but when I saw how much work Chloé had put into this… how tireless she’s been in making this fundraiser happen, it touched my heart. And when I saw how much she cared about making sure these animals have proper care and food and a warm place to sleep, I knew that I had to be here tonight.

“She didn’t have to do this. She **wanted** to do this because that’s the kind of person she is. Chloé Bourgeois is a person I am honored to call my friend, and I feel blessed that I can be on this stage with her today to help with this cause she believes in.”

“Will you join me in giving her the applause she deserves?” 

Marinette tucked the mic into her elbow and turned to Chloé, clapping. She was pleased to hear the audience joining in, especially if they felt like they had to because Paris’ hero asked.

Chloé smiled and waved, and Marinette could see she was embarrassed but doing her best to act like this was all part of the plan. 

After a full minute of applause, she passed the microphone to a volunteer, and she and Chloé walked off the stage together.

Marinette suffered through signing autographs and grinning at a lot of people that deserved neither, but this was for her friend so she put up with it. Finally, she and Chloé succeeded in making their way backstage where the blonde turned to her.

“Thank you,” she said. “Marinette contacted you, didn’t she?”

Ladybug shrugged. She didn’t like outright lying even if keeping the people around her safe made it a necessity.

“She’s saved me again,” Chloé continued, sounding wistful. “She saved me when I went to her and begged her for help turning my life around, and she’s saved me again today.”

“I’m sure she sees how hard you’re working, Chloé,” Ladybug responded. “You deserve all the credit tonight.”

Chloé shook her head. “I don’t, and I don’t deserve her friendship,” she said, and before Ladybug could interject, she continued. “But I want to, you know? I want to deserve her friendship. I won’t stop until I do.”

Marinette felt a strange flutter in her chest. “She would be stupid not to value you,” she said softly.

“Ladybug,” Chloé said before hesitating.

“Yes?”

“May I ask your advice?” Chloé said nervously.

Ladybug patted her arm reassuringly and said, “Of course.”

“You’re courageous and strong and… and you always stand up for what you believe in,” Chloé said.

Marinette blushed, unsure of how to respond.

“Marinette’s that way, too,” Chloé continued. “She’s like you, so you’re the best person to ask. Do you think someone like Marinette could ever have feelings for someone like me?”

Ladybug had to swallow a lump in her throat and the fluttering in her chest increased. “I… yes, I think so, yes. Definitely.”

“So I should tell her?” Chloé asked. “Will she think I’ve been working an angle this whole time? I don’t want that. Her friendship is too important to me to risk it.”

“You should—Yes, you should tell her,” Ladybug said. “I’m… um… I should head out. I know you’re nervous, but you should tell her.”

Chloé hugged Ladybug and whispered thanks in her ear. Ladybug felt like the heat had been turned up in the room.

The blonde headed back towards the stage, and Ladybug made a quick exit. Within moments, she had returned as Marinette. 

Alya was the first to find her.

“Did you see that?” Alya gushed.

Marinette nodded, unwilling to risk talking just yet. Her eyes were glued to the blonde on the stage.

“You had something to do with Ladybug showing up, didn’t you?” Alya squealed.

Marinette shrugged, still watching Chloé who was excitedly embracing her papa. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I should have known you would come through for her!”

“What?” Marinette asked, her eyes snapping to Alya. “What do you mean? Everyone’s worked hard on this, not just me.”

“Girl,” Alya scoffed. “I’ve been your best friend for forever, and the two of you are obvious anyway. Don’t even deny you’ve got feelings for the girl because neither of you are fooling anyone except maybe yourselves.”

That lump had returned to Marinette’s throat. She stared at her friend wondering how Alya had known when she hadn’t.

“Are you going to tell her?” Alya asked.

Marinette turned her eyes back to Chloé who was back on stage introducing the next guest. Her smile was bright and warm.

“Tomorrow,” Marinette answered. “Today is **her** victory. I want her to have this, for both her and her papa.”

Tomorrow was going to be exciting and scary for both of them, but today was a triumph for Chloé. She deserved her victory.

Marinette remarked to herself silently that she hadn’t really saved Chloé. You couldn’t save someone from their own worst instincts. It had all been Chloé’s own doing.

If anything, Marinette felt honored to be by her side while she figured things out.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay! Day 3 in the books! 
> 
> It’s late, but I'm doing my best to catch up! I hope you enjoy!


End file.
